CPR can triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival, according to the American Heart Association - and yet only one in three gets CPR from a bystander. (Source: Heart Beat Magazine Fall 2015)

CPR Training. Washington's Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill that requires all high school students to have CPR training before they graduate. (May 2013)

Statistics

Less than 3% of our population has received CPR training. 1,600 people suffer cardiac arrest every day, killing many Americans who could be saved. 600,000 people per year suffer sudden heart stoppages, and less than 6% of those victims survive. About 400,000 of those people are outside of a hospital. (Institute of Medicine, Washington Post, CBS This Morning, July 1, 2015)

What You Can Do

Parents of young children. Sit down with your children and make sure they know what to do in an emergency - how to call 9-1-1 to contact the police, or other emergency services in an emergency. Teach them to memorize their home address.

Learn and memorize Adult CPR in 4 steps:

Lay the patient on his or her back and kneel near the chest.

Place the heel of one hand in the center of the person’s chest along the nipple line.

Place your second hand on top of your first and interlace your fingers.

Straighten your arms and press down as hard as possible. Repeat at an interval of at least 100 times per minute, or in time with the tune of the disco classic “Stayin’ Alive.” (Source: Heart Beat Magazine Fall 2015)

If you are CPR trained, you can help save lives by receiving alerts about heart attacks in our area. Knowing that early intervention can increase the victim’s survival to nearly 90%, the Spokane and Spokane Valley fire departments have launched the Pulse Point smart-phone app to alert those with CPR training about heart attacks reported nearby. Download the free app to receive calls from dispatchers about a heart attack in a public place in a populated area within a quarter mile of you. This distance can be increased for rural areas. Once notified, the app will load a map with step-by-step directions to find the patient; and the map includes the location of nearby defibrillator devices. The Pulse Point app also includes instructions on how to do hands-only CPR. In addition, people can sign up to simply listen to dispatch radio traffic. ("App enlists volunteers to answer cardiac calls,” The Spokesman-Review, February 14, 2014)

Free CPR classes are taught at some of the local Fire Departments. They teach infant, child and adult CPR aligned with current guidelines.

Providence Health Care offers an Infant/Child CPR and First Aid Class.
Register and pay online at http://www.providence.org/infantchildCPR. The cost
is $30 for two people, with $10 off that fee if a couple also is taking
Providence’s childbirth education class. Providence Health Care offers
several other CPR courses such as the Heartsaver Adult first Aid/CPR and
AED Course. (Source: “Adapting first aid, CPR training
for use on infants”, Kim Crompton, Journal of Business, 7-30-15)